Field of the Embodiments
The embodiments serve industries which use or emit Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) or other organic compounds utilized in manufacturing, plastics production, coatings, painting, solvents, etc. More particularly, the embodiments are directed to an improved system and process for eliminating environmental pollution, reducing energy costs and reducing Greene House Gas emissions.
Description of Existing Art
Many industries necessarily produce environmental pollution as a by-product of their production processes. VOCs, including, for example, ethanol, acetone, isopropyl alcohol, heptanone, or triethanolamine are particularly troublesome and environmental regulations are in place to force industries to reduce or abate their gaseous emissions of VOCs. Currently these VOC producing industries employ a variety of mitigation measures including thermal oxidation, dilution, chemical fixation, recovery, and direct emission. Several existing concepts are employed to combust VOC laden air streams including small combustion turbines, engines and flares.
By way of example, a current VOC abatement technology includes a VOC concentrator (absorber) coupled with a thermal oxidizer to burn the desorbent (regeneration) effluent gas. Essentially these apparatuses utilize natural gas simply to burn the VOC regenerative products. While this process works to abate the VOCs, it is also wasteful as the heat generated by the natural gas is simply passed to ambient through the clean air exhaust. Further, fuel is required to provide pumped in cooling air.
Various prior art systems have been developed in attempts to produce a more efficient VOC abatement system by combining the base VOC abatement burner system described above with other systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,227,120 to Vincitore describes a VOC abatement system combined with a fuel cell power plant.
Another example of a destructive VOC removal system and process is described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0263635 to Cork et al. which describes a system and process for combusting methane released from an underground coal mine as part of ventilated air (also called Ventilated Air Methane or VAM). The combustion system includes, inter alia, a pre-heating zone wherein a thermal media is used to increase the temperature of the VAM prior to introducing it into the combustion zone. The system describes using the heated methane-free exhaust from the combustion zone to in turn heat the thermal media in the pre-heating zone, thus purporting to increase system efficiency.
Other exemplary prior art systems, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,500,862 to Moorhead et al., describe non-destructive systems and processes for removing VOCs. In Moorhead et al., a system and process for removing VOCs (vapors) such as gasoline, kerosene, crude fuel, butane, octane, Hexane, Pentane, LPG, LNG and other volatile fuels as well as volatile chemical vapors such as alcohol, amines, ketones, benzenes, toluenes, xylene, and ethyl benzene from emptied fuel tanks and containers without the need to flare, burn or oxidize is described. Moorhead et al. utilize a particularization and capture process whereby the remnant VOCs are first particularized and then captured in a vapor capture medium, which may be in a liquid form. This liquid may then be reused for its fueling properties.
Existing systems used for the elimination of industrial VOC streams are energy intensive, costly to install and maintain, and do not generate power. Some require extensive permitting and monitoring of emissions. A standing challenge remains in numerous polluting industries to meet VOC reduction requirements while also improving the overall efficiency of VOC management systems including reduced energy cost and dependence on Utility power, and increased energy efficiency and reliability.